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Friday, October 29, 2010

Since the start of time, man has sought to go fast. The first person who discovered that running away from a predator is better than walking away led this march for mankind’s need to go faster.

From then on, humans have pushed the boundaries of how far and how fast we can go. Electricity developed a better use than just electrocuting animals. The Jeantaud Duc set the land speed record in 1898 at 63.15kph using an electric engine. Then, 99 years later, some crazy blokes from England decided to break that record by over 1500km/h! Sweet stuff from swell minds, yet there lacked a human connection there. Sure these drivers went balls fast. And sure, if they crashed they would die an awesome death. And sure they are pushing the cutting edge of their technology, but each case lacked that primordial link that first pushed humans to strive for speed.

What better way to feel connected to your primal roots than to put forth a display a raw, genuflecting power. Disdained by all around for their allaroundness, the UBCTC set out to do just that: Ravage the 10.2km Iona Time trial with shear force.

Conditions were ideal for The Giant to lay down a Tour de France shattering 14:29 time; leading the way, and thus making a 5km long draft zone for the rest of the club.

Shortly thereafter, 3 engineers followed pursuit. Md R, the fizzer, and the blazing red posted a blistering sub 16:00 time. It must be noted that these individuals, minus the doctor, time trialed on road bikes, something even Spartans would herald as bold.

It seemed the men were dominating this challenge. Dylan, Kellen, Brendan, and Derrick were all part of the top 10 to finish. The male domination continued until el presidentee pounced upon the rest of the male pack with a staggering 16:48, finishing as the top female in the club.

The generally good-looking guy fell short of Kim Seder by 2 seconds, something the handsome men’s club simply will not allow. Vince has probably lost his membership to the club by now.

After all the old folks finished, the young ones took to the stage. Eddy Wu, the young maverick, just keeps getting faster. His performance is only limited to the amount of sleep he had the other night. Unfortunately, those 6 meager hours of sleep he had the other night resulted in him getting chicked by el presidentee. Next time he’ll work doubly hard to not let such an event happen again, or he’ll use physics and set the frame of reference to the moon so that he completes 10.2km in 25.2seconds, making him the fastest man alive!

Victoria Gilbert, who is also better known as “watch out, you’re going to get chicked”, rode an intergalactic, lactose intolerance inducing, lengen… wait for it –dairy pace, only 2 seconds behind the Chao-lin monk.

Some have fallen victim to the days event. Jen Moroz and Ceilidh Curtis suffered mechanical failures that inhibited them from proving their might.

Overall, the UBCTC did what they set out to do: brew up a Winstorm on a peaceful Saturday morning. Standings list the order of the outcome

Here we go . . . with the weather gods holding the rain at bay 23 eager UBC Triathletes braved the nippy temperature for what turned out to be quite the morning.It started at the club office where much to Kellen’s dismay numerous bike tires were grossly under inflated.He quickly got to work and set matters right patiently explaining to each underinflated tire and owner why tire pressure mattered so much.

Shortly after everyone rolled out and followed the current UBC TC Fall Classic Race Leader Matt Reeve to the transition area.It should be noted that after many comments from the peanut gallery over the last couple weeks concerning his lack of cape wearing he’d finally found the nerve to wear his flashy gold and blue cape that morning.

At the transition everyone positioned their shoes in what was hoped to be a strategic order and fortunately there was no one out shoe shopping that morning because lets face it, if anyone had wanted a new pair of runners I’m sure they could have found a size, colour, and style to their liking amongst the 23 pairs spread out on display.Numerous members questioned the safety of leaving their precious bikes unguarded while they pounded the pavement around the stadium.Their fears were put to rest however as Derick volunteered to be the official time keeper and bike guard extraordinaire (he seems to be doing a better job taking care of other peoples bikes then his own lately).

Next up was a warm up lap of the run and bike course to make sure all members were familiar with the twists and turns the Brick was about to throw at them.Well lets face it, the only real twists and turns are deciding if you want to risk beating that car to make the turn at Kullahun Drive in order to save yourself a few precious seconds.Or in Winston’s case whether or not to “storm thru” the red light and save himself a few more seconds were it not for the cop car waiting on the opposite side of the intersection (perhaps having been tipped off to watch out for just such stormy indiscretions).

Finally at 10am with not so fresh legs due to the killer Wreck Beach stair workout on Wednesday everyone was lined up and ready to go.After some discussion about where Jesse would start he decided to line up behind Victoria in an effort to not let a repeat of the Victoria Half Marathon cloud his day (see the results to find out if his choice paid off).Much to everyone’s dismay their race leader had ditched his gold and blue cape and would no longer be wearing it during the race.Despite the fact he was earlier quoted as saying “seeing as Kory hasn’t shown up, this ones in the bag”it now seemed as though he was worried his cape wouldn’t hold up to the aerodynamics of Vince’s disk wheel.Melanie on the other hand wasn’t so concerned about aerodynamics and was considering racing in some oversized gloves and a jacket that looked more like a parachute.

With everyone starting 15 seconds apart to help enforce the new rule of no drafting not much can be said for the race itself other than there were numerous calves screaming for the pain to stop.Some racers, whether by choice or default, raced with runners and flat pedals which surely aided them in having a speedy transition.Karin, the proud owner of a new road bike, was out for her first tri club ride of the year and Laura was seen crossing the finish line with her usual enthusiasm.

It should also be noted that a certain someone whose name is Tyler has made it his goal to set a new course record for the Brick next time around.Will our current leader be up to the challenge, has his new facebook fan club group gone to his head, or will he need to call upon the Jedi Knights for assistance?Better still, will Kory be able to smash the current course record (20:08) next weekend when he try’s his luck at the Brick.Time will tell.

In the meantime for your stats calculations, sizing up of rivals, comparing of times from last year, agonizing over how many people you can beat when you make up the Brick next weekend, and general all round viewing pleasure below you can find the results of the UBC TC Fall Classic Race Series Brick.

Friday, October 22, 2010

As is typical with these hotly contested challenges, the aquathon or better known as aquaSTORM is a test of swim, transition, and run without any breaks in between and surviving the winstorm. There will be one big winner from each gender who will take home his or her a feast of 30 coveted UBCTC Fall Classic Racing Series points as well the opportunity for cumulative bonus participation points. Participants are fully aware of the highly anticipated bright and breezy winstorm in effect.

The challenge is done with a mass start in the outdoor pool. Separation of the various speed of swimmers are encouraged to prevent over congestion in each lanes. After completing 5 laps in the pool, they will then toss on their runners and begin the 3 loops 2.5k run. The first person to arrive at the finish line from each gender will gorge individual maximum feasting points for the challenge.

The reason.

Why you ask?

The individuals are battling each other to become the leader of the overall points in the UBCTC Fall Classic Racing Series. The title is a big deal and comes with personal fame and glory no doubt, and their names will be forever engraved on the Vincent Lavallee Cup.**

Some notables.

Vincent Lavallee lays his cards on the table in an interview that Matt Reeve has never been part of his secret alliance (ehem allegations for TTT recently at Iona in a non-drafting sanctioned event), and that he would be difficult to beat at the end. Additionally Vince’s credible reputation of being the ‘generally good looking guy’ is threatened this season due a little marathon, so much so he graciously offered to sit out the aquastorm and help out with timing and cheerleading in lieu of participating.

Eddy Wu is only focused on beating the winstorm. He will be beyond overjoyed if this comes true.

For Brendan Neaf it’s simply about winning. Shortly after the 10K TT in Iona, he uttered a quiet confidence and said to winstorm that HE HAD WON THE RACE...against himself. He beat himself, therefore he is a champion. The aquathon will be no different, winstorm or no winstorm.

Returning aquathon winner Rachael Schoeler knows only two things. 1) She can school the competition with her eyes closed. And 2) She cannot get beat by a winstorm again like last year. That would be embarrassing.

Karin Olafson isn’t worried about the winstorm. She is out to defeat Rachael whether it’s in water or on land.

Jenn Moroz believes that her doing the dishes is currying favour with her new teammates. Blocking a winstorm from getting a good swim start is key.

Victoria Gilbert on the other hand, is trying not to rock the boat, as she knows she’s on the outs. A winstorm will be nearing.

The forecast.

Bright and breezy winstorm.

The results.

We actually had seen a great race. It may not have been the best challenge we’ve ever seen but at least it was original. The winstorm had time to put on socks, glasses, visor, shirt, and of course Garmin.

**However if your name happens to be 2X defending champion Matt Reeve and you also fail to sport the golden-blue cape for the full duration of at least one event in the series, then this personal fame and glory must be relinquished to the next leader in the overall standings.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

All too often you think you are so much better than your female counter parts. Thinking things like "I can lift heavier objects than women" or "look at me, I can ride my bike faster than my wife". Well friends, it's time for a realignment of our prejudice and our penis centric viewpoints. Our lovely lady friends prove to be strong adversaries, and there is no denying that fact.

Being raised in a family with its fair share of feminists (5: my Mum, Dad, two Sisters and myself), I was brought up to never discriminate against women for any reason. I unfalteringly hold this viewpoint in my day to day life, and so should you. However, despite the upbringing my family has given me, the school yard taught me different things. I can distinctly remember numerous times from elementary school through to high school where young men were made fun of for being beat by girls. Boys are supposed to be faster, stronger, and more skilled at all things athletic. This left me with conflicting viewpoints; to never discriminate, or to put on bravado and testosterone and assume that I would always be better than girls at athletics.

Generally speaking, I was stronger, faster, and sometimes more skilled than girls my age (although, that said, I was stronger, faster, and more skilled than many guys too!). But my first real taste of not being able to beat girls was when I joined my high school swim team. While I was one of the faster swimmers on the team, there was always at least one person faster than me, and more often than not, she was a girl. Looking back now, I can visualize the emotional progression that I went through on my high school swim team. I went from being a pubescent miner niner who thought that it was totally wrong for girls to beat me (because I would get made fun of by my friends on the basketball team), to a (slightly) more mature grade 12 who learned to love seeing the progression anyone made in the pool, male or female. As captain of the team I had to be proud and supportive of anyone who won a race, even if it meant accepting a loss to a girl. Fortunately, I think I've progressed past my high school insecurities and I now see losing to women no different than losing to men, the point is that I've lost and that there is room for me to improve.

What I love about swimming is that this situation hasn't changed since I've been in high school. When I get into the pool at triathlon club practice not only do I know that there will be people that are faster than me, but I know that they will be women, and I'm sure many of you men know that too. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I love seeing people progress and its awesome when everyone is able to progress together on an even playing field.

Men, if you have any doubt as to whether you should share my viewpoint, you need only look as far as the results from the UBC TC FC RS 500m Swim results. It will soon be evident that the majority of the men in the field got beaten by women. So, tuck your tail between your legs and give a big round of applause to the awesome women on the tri-club. There is no doubt that the women dominate the pool.

Sincerely,

Two Time UBC TC RS Winner

The results:

Kory Seder

6:58

Rachel Schoeler

7:00

Karin Olafson

7:21

Matt Reeve

7:34

Vincent Lavallee

7:44

Eddy Wu

7:45

Jen Bhatla

7:50

Matt Ridley

8:09

Branden Neaf

8:25

Kywon Kim

8:41

Jorg Winter

8:44

Melanie van Soeren

8:50

Victoria Gilbert

8:51

Kim Seder

8:59

Winston Guo

9:00

Jen Moroz

9:20

Kristry

9:29

John Heinz

9:49

Derrick Lee

9:57

Kellen Kjera

10:06

Drew Senay

10:26

Jesse Chao

10:50

Janice

14:20

Liam Harrap

15:00

Oh, and two UBC TC alumni swam with us as well.

Derek Westra-Luney

6:23

Patrick Waters

6:33

But they don't really count since they both swam on the UBC Varsity Swim Team, so its just expected that they would beat us.

When a player consistently gets nervous in frontof a crowd or gets psyched out after making a mistake,a contingency plan routed in sports psychology can helpthem get back on track and forget the earlier problem.Learn how to motivate your athletes by walking themthrough this exercise.

Each athlete should have a contingency plan thatincludes the following:

Pregame preparation should be a routine that theplayer chooses that helps them focus and calmthemselves before the game. For some players,this includes listening to music or meditating.

For some, it involves warm-up drills or visualization.Help your players identify what gets them prepared,focused, and confident, and work with them to createa routine that prepares them for the game.

Errors are going to occur during competition, but theplayers that have a plan for getting back on track aremore likely to bounce back and succeed. Sit down withplayers to find out what motivates them after they makea mistake.

With that knowledge, help them devise a strategy fordealing mentally with errors that happen during the game.

Perhaps they should take a few seconds to say silentaffirmations, such as "I am good, I am worthy, I cando this," or maybe they should visualize making theirnext play perfect. Whatever works for players is theright contingency plan.

Finally, help players avoid competitive stress bytaking steps to eliminate the unknown. Explain whatplayers should expect during every game. Work withthem to channel their nerves into power.

Nerves are a natural part of competition, but thoseplayers who learn to control those butterflies in thestomach are the ones who come out as winners.

Teach players to take deep breaths, focus on one thingat a time, and believe in themselves. With that plan,competitive stress becomes an asset, not a liability.

Friday, October 1, 2010

The UBCTC Fall Classic was back in full force this week with the first event taking place this past Wednesday with the Uphill Run Time Trial.

Shy of our largest event by one 1 person. Wednesdays race had 31 competitors toe the line!

Although there were many returning veterans vying for the Vincent Lavallée Cup, the headline of the day goes out to the rookies of the event stealing the show and taking top honours in both the Male and Female division.

In the female division, people had been talking about the new girl Jen and her exceptional running ability, with one of the men having been quoted saying;

"I had to really push it on the downhill to drop her during the fartlek workout, and I only found out afterwards that she had stopped to stretch."

Coming in as the strong favourite, the pressure was definitely on. In the mens division defending champion Matt Reeve was far too over confident stating that we might as well give him the trophy now.

With the construction finished on the bottom of the route, the run was now the full length rather than the shorter version we were forced to race last year. This resulted in a significantly longer run including the much steeper bottom section which would require great pacing to prevent losing too much time on the climb or alternatively blowing up before the top. With the race series starting in typically fashion (disorganized and a little frantic) there were 3 competitors who needed to race early rather than doing a warmup lap.

John Heinz, a UBCTC rookie, but many time Storm the Wall finalist was one such individual to start early. Melanie van Soeren and Dirk Haupt were the other two being led up the route with Vincent Lavallee up the road to time the finish. Running at a gingerly pace 45 seconds up of John, Vince jogged expecting to have ample time to reach the top, but looking back midway through the sight of a fast approaching John changed his plans, reaching the top in 4:12 second John was definitely setting the pace for the rest of the field.

Melanie came through with a very respectable time of 5:30 which still remained to be seen how that would stan up against the girls.

The times of the finishers was privy to Vincent Lavallee since it would give an unfair advantage to the racers to follow knowing the time to beat (so naturally Vince kept this to himself).

As the main field began, Vincent was the first to leave with Matt Reeve leaving 15 seconds behind. As the hill got steep the immediate threat of exhaustion was already upon our leader as he tried to focus on running strong and preventing his mind from wandering towards potential excuses for the post race debriefing. Unfortunately this had the negative effect since focusing on clearing his mind while running surely slowed Vincent down by at last 13 seconds as he finished in a time of 4:24 seconds.

Matt Reeve close on his heels did not have this mental focus requirement (as his mind is often blank) and just focused on keeping Vincent in sight and crossed the line in 4:18 seconds. Good enough for second.

In the girls race. Rachel came through the first female in 5:50 seconds with Melanie's time holding strong, but not for long as Victoria approached the finish line in a time of 5:21 taking over the lead!

This strong finish looked as though it may hold until Jen, the favourite in this event bettered that time but a mere second!

The top 5 was rounded off with Kellen Kjera finishing in a time of 4:32 and Winston Guo 6 seconds back in 4:38.

The girls race being even closer, had the 4th place finisher Stephanie Urness two seconds back of Melanie in 5:32 and Karin Olafson in 5:38!

A great day for racing in the woods and a fantastic opener for the Fall Classic Race Series!